The Heroes; Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My ChildrenKingsley, Charles
General
The Heroes; Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children
Kingsley, Charles
Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature
Then they rowed away, the songs say, along the Mysian shore, and past the
mouth of Rhindacus, till they found a pleasant bay, sheltered by the long
ridges of Arganthus, and by high walls of basalt rock. And there they
ran the ship ashore upon the yellow sand, and furled the sail, and took
the mast down, and lashed it in its crutch. And next they let down the
ladder, and went ashore to sport and rest.
And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, to hunt wild
deer; and Hylas the fair boy slipt away after him, and followed him by
stealth, until he lost himself among the glens, and sat down weary to
rest himself by the side of a lake; and there the water nymphs came up to
look at him, and loved him, and carried him down under the lake to be
their playfellow, for ever happy and young. And Heracles sought for him
in vain, shouting his name till all the mountains rang; but Hylas never
heard him, far down under the sparkling lake. So while Heracles wandered
searching for him, a fair breeze sprang up, and Heracles was nowhere to
be found; and the _Argo_ sailed away, and Heracles was left behind, and
never saw the noble Phasian stream.
Then the Minuai came to a doleful land, where Amycus the giant ruled, and
cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but challenged all strangers to box
with him, and those whom he conquered he slew. But Polydeuces the boxer
struck him a harder blow than he ever felt before, and slew him; and the
Minuai went on up the Bosphorus, till they came to the city of Phineus,
the fierce Bithynian king; for Zetes and Calais bade Jason land there,
because they had a work to do.
And they went up from the shore toward the city, through forests white
with snow; and Phineus came out to meet them with a lean and woful face,
and said, ‘Welcome, gallant heroes, to the land of bitter blasts, the
land of cold and misery; yet I will feast you as best I can.’ And he led
them in, and set meat before them; but before they could put their hands
to their mouths, down came two fearful monsters, the like of whom man
never saw; for they had the faces and the hair of fair maidens, but the
wings and claws of hawks; and they snatched the meat from off the table,
and flew shrieking out above the roofs.
Then Phineus beat his breast and cried, ‘These are the Harpies, whose
names are the Whirlwind and the Swift, the daughters of Wonder and of the
Amber-nymph, and they rob us night and day. They carried off the
daughters of Pandareus, whom all the Gods had blest; for Aphrodite fed
them on Olympus with honey and milk and wine; and Hera gave them beauty
and wisdom, and Athené skill in all the arts; but when they came to their
wedding, the Harpies snatched them both away, and gave them to be slaves
to the Erinnues, and live in horror all their days. And now they haunt
me, and my people, and the Bosphorus, with fearful storms; and sweep away
our food from off our tables, so that we starve in spite of all our
wealth.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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